Watch as a Gigantic Tree Is Put up at Biltmore to Welcome the Holidays

Quickly becoming as cherished a tradition as the tree lighting at Rockefeller Center, the annual tree raising at the Biltmore House in Asheville, N.C. is a symbol of the start of the holiday season. It seems fitting given that guests were first invited to the Estate on Christmas Eve over 100 years ago, in 1895.

Traveling from all over to witness the spectacle, visitors flock to Biltmore Estate to watch as over 50 staff members carefully place a tree in the famous home's Banquet Hall. This is no small feat when the tree itself is 35 feet tall, weighing in at around 3,500 pounds.

The event begins with a trumpeter signaling the arrival of Santa Claus aboard a horse-drawn carriage carrying the majestic Fraser fir. From this point on, everything is done meticulously by hand. Lifted by about 40 men and women using poles that are slid underneath the tree, it is then carried to the Banquet Hall where it is skillfully and carefully raised.

Photo courtesy of Biltmore Estate

Though the ceiling of the Banquet Hall is 70 feet high, the room is quickly dwarfed as staff secure the tree with ropes and begin the harrowing process of setting it vertical. A hush falls over the room as the unwieldy fir comes perilously close to the historic chandelier. A round of applause is usually in order once the tree is perfectly in place.

You can see the relief on the face of Rick Conrad, who has overseen the tree raising for 29 years.

"We didn't even used to have a lot of people come here to see this. We didn't think it was a big deal," he says. "Then it started growing and growing and growing and now there's thousands of people who come (on tree-raising day). It's such an exciting time."

Indeed, the holiday season at Biltmore has grown leaps and bounds over the years – not only in attendance, but also in decor. Some forty years ago, only five or six trees were placed and decorated. This year, there are an astonishing 62 trees including the 55-foot-tall Norway spruce on the front lawn. What more could you expect from America's largest home?

Photo courtesy of Biltmore Estate

Once the halls are decked with care, Christmas traditions started by the Vanderbilts are still carried out today. At the annual employee party, the Cecil family (descendants of Mr. Vanderbilt) hand out over 1,000 gifts – one for each child of estate employees. This is a custom that was started by Edith Vanderbilt, who kept precise notes to ensure the children never received the same gift in the following years.

You can take part in this grand tradition starting today, with the daytime experience as well as Candlelight Christmas Evenings running through January 7, 2017.